LEAGUE CONTENDERS … Wauseon right-hander Connar Penrod will try to help the Indians build off a district runner-up finish in 2019.
By: Nate Calvin
The Archbold Bluestreaks were league champions in 2019 but will have to replace 18 letterwinners combined form the last two seasons.
Bryan will have a lot of newcomers this season as they look to replace six seniors from a team in 2020 that had high expectations before the season was canceled.
Wauseon managed to finish as district runners-up after a sixth place in the NWOAL and they will have plenty of pitching depth with 12-18 players who can contribute on the mound led by BGSU commit Connar Penrod.
Teams are listed in order of their finish in the 2019 league standings. Stats and records shown below are from the 2019 season.
1.Archbold (26-4, 7-0 in NWOAL; Lost to Coldwater 5-4 in the Division III Regional Final)
Head Coach: Dick Selgo-12th Season
KEY LOSSES: Kade Kern (CF); Noah Garcia (3B/P); Ethan Hagans (P); Noah Hogrefe (OF); Chase Kohler (OF); Dawson Liechty (OF); Drake Mohring (1B); Adam Walker (OF)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: DJ Newman (3B/P)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Caleb Hogrefe (C); Brandon Taylor (INF/P); Kobe Kennedy (INF); Jaybe Birkle (P/INF); Zane Behnfeldt (3B/P)
SEASON OUTLOOK: It will be a young group of Bluestreaks for coach Dick Selgo, who enters his 12th season with Archbold.
Archbold looks to replace a combined 18 letterwinners from the 2019 and (projected) 2020 season as they are the defending champions in the NWOAL after going 7-0 in 2019.
“We are a very young team overall that is unproven”, said Selgo. “We have a key returning pitcher (DJ Newman) and a sincere desire to get better.”
“This group is hungry to show they can continue the tradition of Archbold Baseball.”
“A strong non-league schedule including Defiance, Perrysburg, Anthony Wayne, Bowling Green, and Toledo Central Catholic, plus many teams in our immediate area and league, will be quite challenging”, commented Selgo.
In talking about the NWOAL, Selgo expects the league to be strong as always. “It is very difficult to win a strong league, especially when you only play a single round of seven league games.”
“Wauseon will be strong, especially when they have one of the top pitchers in Ohio on the mound, Connar Penrod.” “Bryan is always one of the better teams in the NWOAL. Evergreen will also have one of the better pitchers in the league in Lumbrezer”, he added.
2.Bryan (17-11, 5-2 in NWOAL; Lost to Bowling Green 5-1 in Division II District Semifinal)
Coach: Jeff Inselmann-10th Season
KEY LOSSES: Nate Miller (C); Logan Clemens (3B/P); Dom James (P/1B); Connor Arthur (CF/P); Brooks Brown (LF/P); Preston Ankney (OF/DH)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Breven Deckrosh (OF/P/3B)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Nolan Kidston (P/SS); Keith Huard (1B/DH); Clayton Rupp (INF/P); Titus Rohrer (1B/LF/P); Quinn Brown (OF/P); Ethan Psurny (OF/P); Colton Smith (OF/P); Mikey Wolff (C/P); Dylan Dominique (3B/P); Taysen Deckrosh (C/OF/INF/P; Jason Kepler (INF, OUT WITH INJURY); Noah Huard (2B)
SEASON OUTLOOK: The 2021 Bryan Golden Bears will look to replace six seniors from a team last year that had huge expectations for the season before COVID-19 caused the cancellation of the season.
Bryan will feature one returning letterman from 2019 in Breven Deckrosh but will have several players who would have played key roles last year.
“Our expectations are to compete for the NWOAL title and get back to Districts”, said veteran coach Jeff Inselmann.
“Our non-conference schedule is extremely difficult, and this team will be battle-tested by the time the sectional tournament is here. Our season will depend on our ability to stay healthy as a team and for our players to execute in the clutch.
“As I look at the NWOAL league race this season, I believe that Wauseon is at the top with a number of key starters back including (Connar Penrod—top pitcher) and then Archbold (DJ Newman—top pitcher).”
“The rest of the league teams will be competing to stay near the top of the standings. However, I truly believe any team in the league can beat anyone on any given night. It should make for a very exciting league race”, Inselmann concluded.
3. Liberty Center (12-9, 4-3 in NWOAL; Lost to Archbold 6-0 in Division III Sectional Final)
Requested information not submitted
4. Evergreen (10-13, 4-3 in NWOAL; Lost to Fairview6-3 in Division III Sectional Final)
Head Coach: Mark Cymbolin-1st Season
KEY LOSSES: Mason Henricks (3B/SS/P); Jack Krispin (C); Garrett Betz (OF)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Brock Hudik (OF/P/SS); Landen Vance (SS/P); RJ Shunck (1B/P)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Payton Boucher (3B/P); Zach Laver (2B/P); Nick Smithmeyer (3B/P/1B
SEASON OUTLOOK: Mark Cymbolin takes over an Evergreen team that will only have three players with varsity experience enter the 2021 season.
Cymbolin expects pitching depth and good defense to be strengths for this year while hitting an overall team speed being weaknesses of the Viking ball club.
“With only having three kids with varsity experience we are hoping pitching and defense will keep us in games early. “Hitting will come along as the kids get to see more varsity pitching”, said Cymbolin.
“With not having a season last year, I don’t know what the other teams lost to graduation”, said Cymbolin in refence to the NWOAL race.
“I would say Archbold, Bryan, and Wauseon to be the favorites and it’s an open discussion for everybody else.” “We as a team want to compete and be part of that top group at the end.”
5. Swanton (16-10, 3-4 in NWOAL; Lost to Bryan 5-1 in Division II Sectional Final)
Head Coach: Josh Siewert-2nd Season
KEY LOSSES: 10 Seniors from 2019; Billy Nowakowski (P/3B)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Devon Crouse (P/OF)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Trent Weigel (P/Utl); Jason Newman ((OF/P); Blake Szalapski (OF/P); Ryan Oshea (IF/P); Hunter Gowing (P/IF); Kaden Curtis (C); Garrett Swank (IF); Lucas Bloom (P/Utl); John Heckert (P/C)
SEASON OUTLOOK: Swanton returns to Division III this year after going 16-10 as a Division II school in 2019.
Josh Siewert is in his second season as the Bulldogs head man but hasn’t coached a game yet due to the cancellation of the 2020 season.
“We have good speed and athleticism but are a very inexperienced team”, said Siewert when previewing the season.
“For an inexperienced team we have good team chemistry. If we can grow from every game, we will have a successful season”, added Siewert.
“We play in one of the toughest leagues in the area but if we can throw strikes and play solid defense, I feel we will be able to compete.”
6. Wauseon (13-14, 3-4 in NWOAL; Lost to Bowling Green 8-1 in Division II District Final)
Head Coach: Trent Thomas (14th Season)
KEY LOSSES: Sean Brock (IF/P); Cody Figy (1B/DH); Jameson Gray (OF); Jaden Conrad (OF/P)
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Connar Penrod (UTL/P); Sam Krasula (C); Brady Thomas (IF/P); Kolton DeGroff (IF/P)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Cam Cantu, Maddux Chamberlin, Hunter Nofziger, Jaxon Radabaugh, Ryan Marks, Eli Delgado, Jude Armstrong
SEASON OUTLOOK: Wauseon will have a mix of experience and inexperience this season as they come off a District Runner-Up finish in 2019.
The Indians will have five returning letterwinners from the 2019 team, all of them key contributors that season. They will also have several players would have been everyday players last season.
The Indians will have their top three pitchers back from 2019, including one of the premiere pitchers in the state in senior Connar Penrod.
Thomas expects to be very deep in the pitching department, with 12-18 players on the roster capable of logging innings on the mound.
“Our defense should be solid with speed at many positions and several returning position players”, said head coach Trent Thomas.
“Our hitters without varsity experience will need to grow up fast and adjust to the speed of varsity pitching. We will have several capable players that are competing for varsity time and are very capable of making a big impact on our season.”
“Whichever players do not win the starting spots will give us a lot of depth off the bench.”
Like with many things entering this season, there are a lot of unknowns entering league play. “Without the 2020 season and a true ACME season it is very hard to predict our league”, commented Thomas about the NWOAL outlook.
“Several teams in the NWOAL lost some very good players to graduation and we will all be looking to players who would have gained valuable experience last year to step up quickly.”
“As always I believe the NWOAL is very competitive for top to bottom. Any team could come out and play well enough to win on a given night.”
“The teams in the league have quality players returning and could make some noise.”
“With the single round league, it will come down to who stays the healthiest and gets the hottest at the right time or the right week.”
“We hope to get off to a good start and that our tough non-league schedule will prepare us for the grind of the NWOAL season as well as the tournament”, concluded Thomas.
7. Patrick Henry (8-15-2, 2-5 in NWOAL; Lost to Leipsic 6-3 in Division IV District Semifinal)
Head Coach: Ray Greene-3rd Season
Requested information not submitted
8. Delta (2-21, 0-7 in NWOAL; Lost to Otsego 7-1 in Division III Sectional Semifinal)
Head Coach: Damon Mattimore-9th Season
KEY LOSSES: Drew Clifton, Chase Cooper, Trevor Wittes, Jacob Degrie
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Hunter Hamilton (P/INF); Jayce Helminiak (C/P/INF); Austin Michael (C/P/INF); Chase Stickley (P/INF); Max Hoffman (INF/OF); Bryce Reeves (P/OF)
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Calvin Tenney (INF/OF); Zane Shindorf (INF); Bryce Gillen (P/INF/OF); Landon Griesinger (INF/P); Maverick Mercer (INF/P)
SEASON OUTLOOK: Delta will have six returning letterwinners in some key positions this season for ninth-year head coach Damon Mattimore.
Mattimore says this team is very coachable and eager to compete every day. Mattimore said that the team does lack depth in some positions and offensively they will need to learn to grind out at-bats.
“We are committed to never being satisfied and to work together as a TEAM. We are just glad to be back together and Excited to be able to have a high school baseball season!”, said Mattimore.
The coach went on to preview the NWOAL saying “the NWOAL continues to be one of the toughest leagues in the area. We feel that we will have to compete night in and night out to be in the top tier of the league.”
“Any of the teams in the league are capable of knocking off anybody else on any given afternoon, it should be another exciting spring season.”
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com
